


Rabbit Heart

by agirlnamedtruth



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst, Animal Death, Character Study, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Mortality, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 18:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1276576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agirlnamedtruth/pseuds/agirlnamedtruth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with a rabbit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rabbit Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Camelot Land](http://camelot-land.livejournal.com) challenge "pre-canon".

It had started with a rabbit. He'd never been overly concerned about petty things like mortality before. He knew he'd get back to Avalon. He'd get back using any means possible and have his revenge. How dare they treat them so, their own people? To punish him was one thing, he was actually guilty, but to banish his little baby as well...

Only she wasn't a baby anymore. She was a little girl. And she was lonely. In Avalon there were whole realms for children to play together in. But here, he couldn't risk the human children seeing how _special_ his little Sophia was.

She lured the white rabbit into their home, using her powers of persuasion. The rabbit wasn't afraid of her red eyes; its own eyes were the same shade due to some cruel trick of nature. Perhaps that was what drew his little Sophia to the beast. 

But the creature was fragile and it hadn't been young when she brought it to them. Eventually, its little heart gave out. It was Sophia's first bitter taste of death and he'd had to explain that even though in his stories of home where everyone lived forever, that was not the case here. They were not home and nothing lived forever.

Sophia was nine years old and although he still saw her as his little baby, what she would still be in Avalon, she was beyond her years in intelligence. She tried to hide the fear in her eyes and pretend her shed tears were for the rabbit but he knew she knew the truth. They were just as vulnerable. They could die. She was weeping for their lives.

And it hit him, burying the rabbit in the ground so the carrion birds couldn't reach it. He finally understood the most important thing. It wasn't revenge or outrage, his pride or his own life. He would beg on his hands and knees for his daughter to return home.

Because she, his little Sophia, running clear across the meadow, laughing and playing, her grief long forgotten now, she was a rabbit. With her red eyes, fair skin and fragile heart.

**Author's Note:**

> As of 01/01/18, I'm opting to disable comments. [More information here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13077201).


End file.
